Estes Park, Colorado - June 19: The winners of the brownie bake-off are announced at the “No Recallapalooza” rally for Mayor Pro Tem Cody Walker at Bond Park.
(Photo taken by Tyler Pialet/Estes Park Trail-Gazette)

Cody Walker asked his supporters Wednesday to stand up to the recall effort that’s being waged against him by a group he referred to as “bullies” by voting no on the upcoming recall election ballot.

Around 70 of the Mayor Pro Tem’s supporters gathered in Bond Park to stand in solidarity with Walker for the “No Recallapalooza” rally. There were no protesters at the rally.

Standing atop an outstretched flat truck bed decorated with a microphone, speakers and “True Grit, No Recall” signs, Walker faced his constituents who tightly packed the south edge of the lawn in Bond Park and gave an impassioned “just say no” speech.

“True grit means when they demand to take your property rights, you say no,” Walker said as the crowd echoed him and cheered. “True grit means when they say give up and we’ll give your reputation back, you say that ain’t for sale. Threaten us, attack us publicly, write slandered letters to our representatives, I still say no.”

That was the theme of his just under seven-minute speech.

Walker said that the recall group must have never dealt with a cowboy before, because he’s not going to stand down in the face of the recall election.

“I got the true grit to finish,” he said of his term which ends in April 2020.

In attendance of the rally was Larimer County Commissioner Tom Donnelly who said he was invited to give a speech by one of the protest’s organizers and happily agreed.

“I’m an anti-frivolous recall guy frankly,” Donnelly said when asked why he accepted the offer. “Who voted for the mountain coaster? I did…and here’s the other thing. I’m a politician, and I have sent negative mail in my career, but I was at least man enough to put my name on it.”

That was a reference to two postcards that were sent out to residents in Estes Park suggesting that one, people boycott Walker’s business and the Trail-Gazette, and two, people support the recall effort. Walker addressed those postcards in his speech, calling them slander without accountability.

“Another slanderous postcard, demands that I step down, demands that you citizens don’t speak up, we say no,” he said. “Now a bully always dodges responsibility for their actions. But every name on that petition, every name on that recall committee and everyone that wrote a slanderous letter, we can hold accountable now—all we have to do is vote no.”

Walker’s recall election was set for August 20, 2019 in late May. It will be a two-part mail ballot election.

The first question on the ballot will be whether or not Walker should be recalled, which he encouraged everyone who attended his rally to vote no. The second question will ask who should replace Walker if he is recalled.

Any candidates interested in taking Walker’s seat on the Town Board of Trustees has to fill out a packet with 10 registered voters’ signatures to become a legitimate contender.

So far, only three people have picked up a packet but only one has turned it into Town Clerk Jackie Williamson with the 10 valid signatures. Former Town Trustee Eric Blackhurst turned in his packet last week.

When asked why he wants to run for Walker’s seat with only six months left in his term, Blackhurst said it’s because he has the most experience having served on the Board formerly.

“It takes anywhere from four to six months if the person is appointed to that position to just become familiar with what’s going on, and there’s a number of issues that are coming up here quickly in the fall that need somebody with experience,” Blackhurst said.

Recall timeline:

On April 16, petitions to recall Mayor Todd Jirsa and Mayor Pro Tem Cody Walker were submitted to Town Clerk Jackie Williamson’s office.

Scott Schneider, a member of the recall committee, confirmed that both petitions were submitted and that the petition to recall Jirsa garnered approximately 565 signatures, with the committee needing 553. He also said that the petition to recall Walker got approximately 585 signatures, which needed 450 to be certified.

Williamson then had five business days to verify the petitions for sufficiency.

On April 24, Williamson delivered that determination to the Town Board of Trustees. She informed the Board that the recall petition for Jirsa was insufficient as it did not acquire enough valid signatures.

That result was not the same for Walker’s petition. Williamson deemed that petition sufficient with 454 signatures.

The Board then approved hiring a hearing officer to handle any protests that were filed against the recall effort.

Four residents submitted protests against Walker’s recall before the deadline of May 1.

On Wednesday, May 10, Alicia Calderon, an attorney from Loveland traveled to Estes Park to act as the hearing officer for the four protests filed against the recall of Mayor Pro Tem Cody Walker.

Five days later, Calderon issued four separate determinations finding the petition to recall Walker sufficient with 454 signatures.

Town Clerk Jackie Williamson distributed those determinations to the recall committee and each town Trustee the following afternoon.

At the Board’s May 28 meeting, Williamson suggested that the Board consider town staff recommendations for setting the recall election date for August 20, 2019. The election date, Williamson said, could be no less than 30 days from when she delivered Calderon’s determination of sufficiency for the recall, and no more than 90 days from that date.

On May 28, the Board set the date for the election to be held on August 20, 2019.